This invention generally relates to a device for cleaning wire ropes or cables, such as those used in elevator systems.
Wire ropes or cables conventionally used in elevator systems are typically fabricated from multiple strands spirally wrapped around a core, and each strand contains multiple individual wires. The ropes require lubrication by grease in order to operate properly. In the course of operation, the wire ropes become covered with contaminants that adhere to the grease and to the wire ropes themselves. The contaminants consist essentially of dirt, dust and rust produced by external sources of moisture. For safety reasons, the wire ropes must be periodically cleaned, inspected and lubricated to prevent deterioration and possible operating danger.
Inspection of the wire ropes typically involves visually checking wire breakage or wear marks on the surface of the ropes and measuring rope diameter. Accordingly, the wire ropes need to be cleaned before inspection to an extent that the surface of the wire rope may be clearly viewed. Wire ropes have usually been cleaned by hand, using rags and wire brushes. Such manual cleaning is both labor intensive and time consuming and may be dangerous since the wire rope is usually moved during cleaning.
Various types of non-manual cleaning devices are known in the art such as cloth type cleaning devices, brush type cleaning devices, scraper type cleaning devices or rotation type cleaning devices. However, there is no non-manual cleaning device which effectively cleans both the grooves between rope strands and the surface of the ropes such that the wire rope is ready for inspection without requiring further cleaning by hand.